When we say that pleasure is the end and aim, we do not mean the pleasures of the prodigal or the pleasures of sensuality. By pleasure we mean the absence of pain in the body and of trouble in the soul.
Genuine
Yes. In a letter to Menoeceus, section 131 (Diogenes Laertius, Lives X.131); Hicks translation, 1925.
Found word for word by program in the Greek original and in R. D. Hicks’ English translation (1925).
The wording people share differs slightly from the text; the words in the text are underlined below.
- Work
- Letter to Menoeceus (Ἐπιστολὴ πρὸς Μενοικέα)
- Where
- Letter to Menoeceus, section 131 (Diogenes Laertius, Lives X.131); Hicks translation, 1925
- Found at
- Paragraph 15 of the Greek text, 7 of the English
- Translation
- R. D. Hicks, 1925
Researched by AI; checked by program against the full text on 31 October 2026. Editorial review: pending. How we check
On the page
[…] To habituate one’s self, therefore, to simple and inexpensive diet supplies all that is needful for health, and enables a man to meet the necessary requirements of life without shrinking, and it places us in a better condition when we approach at intervals a costly fare and renders us fearless of fortune.
καὶ μᾶζα καὶ ὕδωρ τὴν ἀκροτάτην ἀποδίδωσιν ἡδονήν, ἐπειδὰν ἐνδέων τις αὐτὰ προσενέγκηται. τὸ συνεθίζειν οὖν ἐν ταῖς ἁπλαῖς καὶ οὐ πολυτελέσι διαίταις καὶ ὑγιείας ἐστὶ συμπληρωτικὸν καὶ πρὸς τὰς ἀναγκαίας τοῦ βίου χρήσεις ἄοκνον ποιεῖ τὸν ἄνθρωπον καὶ τοῖς πολυτελέσιν ἐκ διαλειμμάτων προσερχομένους κρεῖττον ἡμᾶς διατίθησι καὶ πρὸς τὴν τύχην ἀφόβους παρασκευάζει.
“When we say, then, that pleasure is the end and aim, we do not mean the pleasures of the prodigal or the pleasures of sensuality, as we are understood to do by some through ignorance, prejudice, or wilful misrepresentation. By pleasure we mean the absence of pain in the body and of trouble in the soul. 132. […]
“Ὅταν οὖν λέγωμεν ἡδονὴν τέλος ὑπάρχειν, οὐ τὰς τῶν ἀσώτων ἡδονὰς καὶ τὰς ἐν ἀπολαύσει κειμένας λέγομεν, ὥς τινες ἀγνοοῦντες καὶ οὐχ ὁμολογοῦντες ἢ κακῶς ἐκδεχόμενοι νομίζουσιν, ἀλλὰ τὸ μήτε ἀλγεῖν κατὰ σῶμα μήτε ταράττεσθαι κατὰ ψυχήν.
133. “Who, then, is superior in thy judgement to such a man? He holds a holy belief concerning the gods, and is altogether free from the fear of death. […]
οὐ γὰρ πότοι καὶ κῶμοι συνείροντες οὐδʼ ἀπολαύσεις παίδων καὶ γυναικῶν οὐδʼ ἰχθύων καὶ τῶν ἄλλων, ὅσα φέρει πολυτελὴς τράπεζα, τὸν ἡδὶν γεννᾷ βίον, ἀλλὰ νήφων λογισμὸς καὶ τὰς αἰτίας ἐξερευνῶν πάσης αἱρέσεως καὶ φυγῆς καὶ τὰς δόξας ἐξελαύνων ἐξ ὧν πλεῖστος τὰς ψυχὰς καταλαμβάνει θόρυβος. τούτων δὲ πάντων ἀρχὴ καὶ τὸ μέγιστον ἀγαθὸν φρόνησις· διὸ καὶ φιλοσοφίας τιμιώτερον ὑπάρχει φρόνησις, ἐξ ἧς αἱ λοιπαὶ πᾶσαι πεφύκασιν ἀρεταί, διδάσκουσα ὡς οὐκ ἔστιν ἡδέως ζῆν ἄνευ τοῦ φρονίμως καὶ καλῶς καὶ δικαίως, οὐδὲ φρονίμως καὶ καλῶς καὶ δικαίως ἄνευ τοῦ ἡδέως· συμπεφύκασι γὰρ αἱ ἀρεταὶ τῷ ζῆν ἡδέως, καὶ τὸ ζῆν ἡδέως τούτων ἐστὶν ἀχώριστον.
“Exercise thyself in these and kindred precepts day and night, both by thyself and with him who is like unto thee; then never, either in waking or in dream, wilt thou be disturbed, but wilt live as a god among men. […]
“Ἐπεὶ τίνα νομίζεις εἶναι κρείττονα τοῦ καὶ περὶ θεῶν ὅσια δοξάζοντος καὶ περὶ θανάτου διὰ παντὸς ἀφόβως ἔχοντος καὶ τὸ τῆς φύσεως ἐπιλελογισμένου τέλος, καὶ τὸ μὲν τῶν ἀγαθῶν πέρας ὡς ἔστιν εὐσυμπλήρωτόν τε καὶ εὐπόριστον διαλαμβάνοντος, τὸ δὲ τῶν κακῶν ὡς ἢ χρόνους ἢ πόνους ἔχει βραχεῖς, τὴν δὲ ὑπό τινων δεσπότιν εἰσαγομένην πάντων διαγελῶντος 〈εἱμαρμένην καὶ μᾶλλον ἃ μὲν κατʼ ἀνάγκην γίγνεσθαι λέγοντοσ〉, ἃ δὲ ἀπὸ τύχης, ἃ δὲ παρʼ ἡμᾶς διὰ τὸ τὴν μὲν ἀνάγκην ἀνυπεύθυνον εἶναι, τὴν δὲ τύχην ἄστατον ὁρᾶν, τὸ δὲ παρʼ ἡμᾶς ἀδέσποτον, ᾧ καὶ τὸ μεμπτὸν καὶ τὸ ἐναντίον παρακολουθεῖν πέφυκεν
The scene
Epicurus has just praised simple food: bread and water give the highest pleasure to the hungry, and getting used to a plain diet keeps a man healthy and unafraid of fortune. Here he heads off the charge, already made in his lifetime, that his school preaches indulgence. He goes on that it is not drinking-bouts, sex or a luxurious table that make a pleasant life, but sober reasoning, and that prudence is the greatest good, since one cannot live pleasantly without living wisely, honourably and justly.
What it means
The pleasure Epicurus calls the goal of life is the state of being free from bodily pain and mental disturbance, not the pursuit of luxury or sensual excitement.
Often misread
“Epicurean” came to mean a lover of fine food and drink, and Epicurus is often quoted as a patron of indulgence. This passage, his own, rejects that reading in so many words: the pleasures of the prodigal are what he does not mean, and the letter recommends plain bread and water.
Topics
Related quotes
- Of all the means to insure happiness throughout the whole life, by far the most important is the acquisition of friends.
- It is impossible to live a pleasant life without living wisely and well and justly, and it is impossible to live wisely and well and justly without living pleasantly.
- Happiness is a kind of working of the soul in the way of perfect Excellence Aristotle
- No pleasure is in itself evil, but the things which produce certain pleasures entail annoyances many times greater than the pleasures themselves.
- Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence. (paraphrase) Aristotle
Sources
- en.wikisource.org/wiki/Lives_of_the_Eminent_Philosophers/Book_X (Hicks, 1925; corpus source, X.130-132)
- en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Epicurus (a paraphrase of the passage in Half-Hours with the Freethinkers, 1877)
Cite it
Epicurus, Letter to Menoeceus (270 BC), Letter to Menoeceus, section 131 (Diogenes Laertius, Lives X.131); Hicks translation, 1925, translated by R. D. Hicks (1925). Checked at Quotogeny, https://quotogeny.com/q/we-do-not-mean-the-pleasures-of-the-prodigal/ (31 October 2026).
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